Abstract
The authors argue that to present liberalism in a Rawlsian way, as rights-based and premised on achieving social justice, can be crucial to nourishing liberal values in post-Soviet context. The Maturidi Islam, to which a majority of Central Asian Muslims, at least nominally, belong in creed, can be qualified as epistemologically rationalistic. However, the critical characteristics of its rationalistic theology became eroded and lost. Although the negative predisposition of Central Asian peoples towards liberalism is a matter of fact (which can be seen as a result of misperceptions and an information war, as well as the repercussions of the Soviet-infused identity-building), achieving coexistence between the development of egalitarian and religiously inclusive Rawlsian political liberalism and religious revival based on rationalistic Islam, in the final account, is not impossible in post-atheistic Central Asia.
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- 1.
However, the idea that ‘words do things’ precedes constructivism, for example a British philosopher of language John Austin emphasized that we use the words/ use the language to do things as well as to assert things (Austin 1962).
- 2.
Which is significantly higher than the level of (34%) accepting of homosexuality by White Evangelicals.
- 3.
Although, according to many Western analysts, after two and half decades of independence democratization and political liberalization in Central Asia has stalled and even become a reversed process (Omelicheva 2015; Matveeva 2009; Collins 2006). At best, the efforts to develop democracy in the region have yielded only mixed results. Moreover, local political elites have developed their own discourse of democracy, which frames it as ‘unique and indigenous models of democracy and development’, while also expressing their growing resentment towards international democratization (Omelicheva 2015, p. 133). However, it is important to acknowledge the considerable differences between the five Central Asian countries since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
- 4.
Although it is not appropriate to perceive Jadidism as a homogeneous, monolithic group or movement (for instance not all were religiously motivated), they laid the foundation for progressive educational reforms by systematically criticizing backward-traditional Muslim practices. Jadidism was arguably the very first attempt to modernize Islamic learning and understandings in Eurasia, including Central Asia (Khalid 1999).
- 5.
We use the concept ‘rationalistic’ to denote a religious school named Maturidism or Maturidiya which accepts the use of reason as one of its main epistemology pillars. Although this school was historically dominant in Central Asia, its epistemology became widely lost. Moreover, as a result of a confluence of factors the concepts ‘rationalistic’ and ‘rationalism’ in Islamic tradition have become predominantly associated with Muʻtazilite school which in its turn has negative connotations for a majority of Sunni Muslims who tend to denounce Muʻtalizism. Although Muʻtazilism cannot be presented as a unified approach or school, Mu’tazilites have come to be known as ‘rationalizing’ theologians holding that the basic truths of theology, such as the existence of God and the nature of His attributes and justice, and ethics are entirely subject to rational proof (Madelung and Schmidtke 2006, p. vii.)
- 6.
Overall, we were just interested in getting a general overview of attitudes towards ‘core liberal values’ and the aim was not to use the results to make any definitive claims regarding what they tell us.
- 7.
The Maturidite theology accepts that there is no need for revelation to understand all good and evil since human reason can arrive, unaided by revelation (scripture), at what is ethically good or bad (Deen 2016).
- 8.
Which can be used by radicals or fundamentalists to justify their aims.
- 9.
Religious inclusivism accepts that there is more than one way to salvation. Inclusive religious doctrine implies that a salvation beyond its teachings can be found, whereas exclusive doctrine denies the acceptance of such salvation (Kamali 2011, p. 715).
- 10.
It is vital that according to the Hanafi-Maturidi approach, ‘disbelief’ (kufr) is not a reason for war. The reason for fighting unbelievers is not their unbelief but rather their beginning of hostilities against Muslims (Zaman 2012, p. 264).
- 11.
While a leading Hanafi scholar, Abu Yusuf became the chief lawyer of Abbasids (some researchers claim that this acceptance signified the start of the intellectual decline of Islamic scholarship) (Bulac 2006, p. 31); his master Abu Hanifa rejected the proposal to serve the ruling dynasty and was persecuted for his impartiality and independence. Despite this non-conformist stance of both masters, Hanafi-Maturidi scholars frequently have been accused of being ‘conformist’.
- 12.
Nation-building in post-Soviet Central Asian countries have preserved the ‘Soviet matrix’ which was part of the original project of their construction in the 1920s, and they retain a variety of common ‘Soviet’ features (Abashin 2012, p. 166).
- 13.
‘Strictly conservative’, if not retrograde, understandings of Hanafi Islam are dominant in all Central Asian states. As Khalid posits: ‘What is truly paradoxical about Soviet Islam is that the great modernizing effort of the Soviet regime in effect de-modernized Islam’ (Khalid 2007, pp. 138–139).
- 14.
In other words, it should be underlined that liberalism should not be conflated with democracy or at the very least we do not imply that liberal democracy is the only form of democracy. Similar to the truth that freedoms of individual and democracy are not the same, liberalism and democracy are not the same. Democracy, especially if there is a majoritarian model and no anti-majoritarian protection of minorities, can be a disaster. The rise of illiberal democracies around the world showed the importance of anti-majoritarian protection and cultivating core liberal values with strongly institutionalized anti-majoritarian protection of minorities and all those who do not share the views of incumbent administration, as well the importance of government bound by law. In short, ‘hardware’ such as elections and administrations matter, but ‘software’—the institutions and perceptions of people matter much more.
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Zhussipbek, G., Moldashev, K. (2019). Rawlsian Liberalism and Rationalistic Maturidi Islam in Central Asia. In: Isaacs, R., Frigerio, A. (eds) Theorizing Central Asian Politics. International Political Theory. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97355-5_5
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